Evolution of Sujani Embroidery: From Mother’s Love to a Medium of Social Expression

Every region of India has its own particular embroidery technique that reflects its unique cultural spirit. These motifs, whether delicately or heavily patterned, in subtle or brilliant tones, have global appeal. It’s no surprise that they’ve survived the test of time. Sujini or Sujani needlework, a hidden jewel of the textile world, can be found in the heart of India, lying among the rich plains of Bihar. This complicated and captivating technique, passed down through centuries, has converted basic, worn-out clothing into stitching marvels, bringing new life to wasted fabrics. Not only is the fabric and its construction sustainable, but it also has historical and cultural strands that distinguish rural Bihar.

Sujani Embroidery (Image Credit-Hindi Krafts)

Historical Backdrop

A Baby Mattress cum quilt in Sujani Embroidery (Image credit – X Account-Shifali Vaidya)

The colorful needle work of Sujani originated in a small village in Bihar named Bhusara. From here it later spread on to other parts. Sujani is derived from the terms “Su” meaning “easy and facilitating” and “Jani” meaning “birth”. Patches of different colored cloth from old saris and dhotis were traditionally stitched together with a simple running stitch during childbirth to create a product. Three or four saris or dhotis were layered and quilted using thread from old clothing. The cloth fragments were joined together using a basic running stitch. The finished product was a quilt-cum-bedspread, occasionally packed with a ragged fabric for added thickness. The future mothers also embroidered different designs in colorful threads, weaving their hopes and wishes for the baby onto the quilt.

Sujani is reported to have  initially performed by lower-caste women. However, its origins can be traced back to ancient customs. Aside from being excellent for draping babies, the act of creating such objects employing Sujani stitching was seen as a ceremony intended to invoke a deity known as Chitiriya Maa, the ‘Lady of the Tatters’. From sun and cloud motifs, which represented life forces, to other patterns such as sacred animal and fertility emblems, which were thought to elicit divine favors. 

What does it symbolize:

Sujani embroidery represents the combination of discordant bits of cloth into a harmonious whole. Stitching each piece of cloth to the one before it expresses the tenderness and care inherent in a mother’s love. When a newborn is swaddled in a quilt made using the Sujani technique, they are not only warm but also protected by the good intentions and prayers that their mother embroidered into the cloth’s foundations.

Themes, Icons and Motifs

Nature Scenery and Animal motifs in Sujani Embroidery (Image Credit-Tiff’s Adventures)

Sujani embroidery’s most traditional designs feature sun and cloud motifs, which represent the life-giving process. Other popular motifs include fertility symbols, sacred animals, and legendary creatures stitched to protect the newborn from evil influences. They are essentially defensive wards designed to draw the Gods’ blessings. The designs are predominantly drawn in threads of crimson and yellow, with red representing blood and yellow representing the sun. Frequently used themes include fish and floral ornamentations, elephants, pigeons, peacocks, fish, horses, fertility symbols, sacred creatures, and emblems of life-giving powers such as the sun, clouds, and moon.

Some popular scenes include a fish swimming over the surface with a snake, a rider galloping away on a horse, mahouts on elephants ambling into the forest, Rama and Sita’s elaborate wedding procession complete with palanquins carrying the bride, and an elderly woman on a pilgrimage. Sujani avoids religious mantras/texts, as well as Gods and Goddesses. Animal motifs include fish, elephants, and legendary birds, with two parrots with one head symbolizing peace between men and women. Sujani embroidery has expanded to include new designs. Geometrical designs such as hashiya (line patterns), phul-patti (graphic florals), and chaupad (checker game) are also employed in the craft.

Sujani Motifs depicting lives of women (Image credit International Quilt Museum)

Sujani is a traditional women’s craft that also serves to transmit social and political concerns. Females in Bihar had accepted Sujani needlework because it expressed their memories, oppression, and sincerity through Sujani stitches. While several major motifs were originally utilized in Sujani needlework to reflect spiritual, natural, and everyday impulses, they today represent particular about the rural presence, Hinduism’s ethos, and societal issues. Domestic violence, female infanticide, the effects of gambling and drunkenness, gender inequality, the evils of dowry, girl education, health care lessons, AIDS awareness, and other themes are shown to demonstrate women’s standing in the male world.

Typically, one older woman artisan tells the entire story. The story is then conveyed through a series of scenes. Each scene in the story depicts the day-to-day lives of women in society. A typical Sujani embroidered quilt offers two different messages: a drunken man physically beating his wife, women constrained to maintain the purdah, and the system of dowry on the one hand. Alternatively, the other half comprises motifs and situations such as a woman speaking or hosting a public meeting, a female judge, or a scene representing a woman selling things and making a life for herself.

Method:

Sujani needlework, an art style distinguished by its simplicity and grace, employs a distinct running stitch. Sujani kantha stitch requires a needle, frame, scissors, threads in various colors, inch tape, tracing sheet, tracing wheel, pencil, rubber, blue chalk, and kerosene. The procedure begins with picking a base fabric, usually cotton or silk from old garments that have softened from years of wear and washing, and cutting it to the desired length and shape. 

A design is then carefully sketched onto the top layer with a tracing sheet, tracing wheel, and blue chalk. The stitching begins with a fine-running stitch and progresses from the background to the foreground. The backdrop is stitched with a fine-running stitch in a similar color thread. It creates a wavy (tone-on-tone) look with dark colors, particularly black. Motifs are highlighted using a Herringbone stitch and chain stitch by outlining them with black or brown threads and bright threads for filling.

Sujani stitching is simple, but takes a lot of time and patience. The number of stitches ranges from 105 to 210 per square inch, making it a labor-intensive and time-consuming craft. While smaller items can be easily manufactured by a single artist, bed sheets and curtains require three or four artisans to work together, beginning at the end and working towards the center. The final steps include hemming the fabric’s edges, washing with kerosene to erase blue chalk markings, and ironing.

Revival and Diversification of the Craft

Sujani embroidery has grown throughout time to decorate more than just baby quilts. Sujanis were used as gifts for a variety of occasions, including marriages and childbirth. These layered cloths were also used to wrap household things like as musical instruments, holy books, and other religious items. Sujanis were used in marriages to make dowry items such as Rumal (Handkerchief), Table Cloth, Takias (Pillow Cover), Jajuns (Quilt), Chadars (Bed Sheets), Chanda Jodi (Money Bag), Ketri (A Baby Wrap), and so on. The Sujanis’ purpose was to meet the need for domestic items such as bed covers, cushions, canopies, floor spreads, blouses, and children’s clothing, particularly caps for newborn babies.

Rural Women Showcasing their work (Image Credit-Gaon Connection)

The original tradition of making Sujani embroidered baby quilts had nearly died out by the turn of the twentieth century, but it was revived in 1988 by Nirmala Devi, a member of the Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti (MVSS), a grassroots organization that promoted rural women’s economic independence and championed the cause of female financial empowerment. When rural women are not permitted to leave their houses to work, practicing this art form serves as their primary source of revenue, and it is through this craft that they supplement their family’s earnings. The women continued to make baby quilts, but they shifted their focus to bedspreads and adult quilts to appeal to a bigger and more modern market.

Today, this embroidery is done on any readily accessible cloth for a variety of applications. Product diversification has given this beautiful embroidery a new lease on life. Bedspreads, wall hangings, pillow and bolster covers, saris, dupattas, kurtas, stoles, and jackets are now among the products offered.

Sujani embroidery has been overshadowed by the growing popularity and vibrancy of other Bihar-based crafts such as Madhubani and papier-mache. But the Sujani needlework is now protected by a GI tag and has received the 2019 UNESCO Seal of Excellence. It has had a dramatic impact on the lives of many rural women in Bihar. Sujani embroidery is now practices in various other states as well, such as the southern region of Rajasthan, to create patterns for sarees, dupattas, and other garments and home furnishings.